City of Jacksonville and JEA Septic Tank Phase Out Program

Program Overview

The City of Jacksonville in partnership with JEA are working together to improve the quality of life in our communities with the Septic Tank Phase Out program initiative! We are well on our way with this exciting and transformative project to eliminate existing septic systems, thus reducing the amount of harmful nutrients that often find their way into the St. Johns River and other local waterways.

The program was approved by the Jacksonville City Council on August 23, 2016 and involves installation of new water and sewer services in designated areas of our community. The neighborhoods listed below are the first three (3) proposed areas based on community needs and abandoning of septic tanks having a positive environmental impact to our waterways.

The Next Steps

The COJ and JEA will continue to work together over the next few months to communicate information about the program in general and provide more information about the proposed future neighborhood projects. While this is a great start to abandoning septic tanks, it will not be a quick process and a phased approach will be required to accomplish the task.

The Process

The individual neighborhoods will need to reach a 70% ownership participation threshold for the project to move forward. Once that threshold is met, the project will then be designed/engineered, bid and constructed prior to any service connections being made. The physical connections to the JEA system will be several years away.

Before any work begins, customers residing within identified future Septic Tank Phase Out areas will be contacted directly by the COJ and JEA. We will (by mail) send invitations to an informational neighborhood meeting and send multiple letters outlining the program. In other words, we will contact you.

Current Septic Tank Issues

Anyone currently having issues with their septic system is highly encouraged to make the necessary repairs. As mentioned above, any physical connections to the JEA system as part of this program will be several years away.

Future Updates

However, more public information will be provided through the media and COJ and JEA websites in the coming months.

Related Links

JEA’s work to improve the river began in 1997, when the utility first took over responsibility for the City’s water and sewer services. From that time to the signing of the River Accord, JEA invested more than $2 billion in improvements to the water and sewer systems.

Our sewer collection system handles more than 60 million gallons of wastewater per day through more than 3,700 miles of pipe and five large regional wastewater treatment facilities plus nine smaller ones.